Standard 7. Conflict and Cooperation

Students explore the physical and human geographic factors affecting the origins and the local, regional and supranational consequences of conflict and cooperation between and among groups of people.

7.1 Recognize that conflict and cooperation among groups of people occur for a variety of reasons including nationalist, racial, ethnic, religious, political, economic and resource concerns that generally involve agreements and disagreements related to territory on Earth’s surface. Examples: Turkey and Iraq conflict and cooperation related to the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (1900–present), U.S. and Canada conflict and cooperation related to salmon in the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca (1950–present), and conflict within the country of Sudan between Arabic peoples in the north and black Africans in the south (1950–present)

7.2 Analyze the physical and human factors involved in conflicts and violence related to nationalist, racial, ethnic, religious, economic, political, and/or resource issues in various parts of the world, over time. Assess the human and physical environmental consequences of the conflicts identified for study. Examples: Indian Sub-continent: British vs. Muslims vs. Hindus (1800-present); Northern Ireland: Protestants vs. Catholics (1900s); Southwest Asia: Iranians vs. Iraqi Shiites vs. Sunnis; Israelis vs. Palestinians vs. Arabs (1900s-present); Africa: tribal conflicts in Rwanda, Nigeria and Sudan (1900s-present); Europe: the creation of new nations from the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires (1914-present); World War II and the Holocaust (1933-1945)

7.3 Analyze and explain why some countries achieved independence peacefully through legal means and others achieved independence as a consequence of armed struggles or wars. Examples: Compare and contrast Czech Republic and Slovakia to former Yugoslavia (1900s), compare and contrast Ghana under Nkrumah and Kenya under Kenyatta (1950–70s), compare and contrast Gandhi’s (India) non-violent approach to independence compared to Algerian violent movement for independence from France (1950s) or to the Bolshevik’s (Russia) approach to independence from absolutism (1900s), and compare and contrast the independence movements by colonial Australia and South Africa (1900s)

7.4 Prepare a variety of text (writing, maps, timelines and/or other graphic representations) to trace the
development and geographic extent of a variety of regional and global cooperative organizations for different time periods. Describe their establishment and assess their success or lack of success, consequences for citizens, and the role of particular countries in achieving the goals the organizations were established to accomplish. Examples: League of Nations, North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO), United Nations (UN), North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), Free Trade Association (FTA), World Trade Organization (WTO), World Health Organization (WHO), Europea

Supranational—A venture involving three or more states—political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives.

Nationalist—Devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation including promoting the interests of one country over those of others.